Railroad-tie.



W. LAWLESS.

RAILROAD TIE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-21. M4.

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RAILROAD TIE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-ZI, I914.

WILLIAM LAVJLESS, OF QUENEMIO, KANSAS.

RAILROAD-TIE.

Specification of Letters ratent.

Patented Apr. 13, 1915.

Application filed August 21, 1914. Serial No. 857,907.

T0 all whom it may concern Be it known that T, WILLIAM LAwLnss, a citizen of the United States, residing at Quenemo, in the county of Usage and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad-Ties; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to railroad ties, and has for its principal object to provide a tie which will effectively hold railroad rails against spreading, sinking or creeping and firmly lock the rails in place.

Another object of the invention is to provide a railroad tie in which wooden blocks are used to give the tie the desired resiliency.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel means for clamping the rail to the tie and preventing the same from becoming accidentally dislodged.

Vl ith these and other objects in view the invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts which will be fully set forth in the following specification and in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of a railroad tie constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a side view in elevation of Fig. 1 showing the rail in section. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view through a railroad tie constructed in accord ance with this invention. Fig. 4 is a view of a modified form of rail holding clamp the tie being partly in section to more clearly illusrate the details of construction. Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view of the preferred form of rail-holding elements. Fig. 7 is a detail perspective view of the clamp for holding the rail-holding elements in position on the tie and Fig. 8 is a detail perspective view illustrating the means for securing the rail-holding elements in place.

Referring now to the drawings by charactors of reference, the numeral 1 designates the base plate of the tie, which is provided with the lateral upstanding flanges 2. These flanges 2 are enlarged at each end as at 3, and these enlarged portions are provided with the transverse walls 4: which walls are spaced inwardly from the ends of the ties and form chambers for the reception of the bearing block 5. These enlarged portions are provided at the ends opposite the one where they join the flanges 2, with the out wardly extending flanges 6, which are arranged to form guides for the ends of plate 7 which form an end closure for the chamber in which the block 5 is inserted thereby providing for the removal of the block without necessitating the removal of the railroad rail from its position. The bottom wall 1 is provided with suitable apertures S which are at spaced intervals with relation to each other and form outlet openings for the chambers to enable the water which may gather therein, to pass outwardly through the apertures and thereby insure the proper drainage to prevent the block 5 from becoming rotted or otherwise unfit for use. When so desired, the cover plate 9 may be placed on the tie over the chamber in order to preventwater from entering the chamber and thereby protecting the block 5 as much. as possible.

Cooperating with the tie hereinbefore described, are the rail securing elements which are best illustrated in Figs. 6, 7 and 8. These rail securing members comprise the rail flange engaging element designated generally by the numeral 10 and the clamping members 11. The rail clamp engaging members comprise the U shaped element which is formed of the arm 12 and bight portion 13. These arms 12 are bent at their upper terminals as at 14 to form clamp ongaging elements, and are provided laterally with the spacing members 15 which are ar ranged to hold the bars 16 in spaced relation thereto. A similar spacing element 17 is provided near the lower terminal of the bars 16 and a suitable aperture is formed between the lower terminal. of the spacing element 15 and the upper terminal of the spacing element 17, this aperture is arranged to receive the locking members designated by the numeral 18 which comprises the shank 19 having formed at one end the angular extension 20. This shank 19 is arranged to extend through the apertures hereinbefore described and firmly hold the clamping members 11 which will be more fully hereinafter described in place. This clamping member 11 comprises the horizon' tal bar 21 which is provided near each terminal with the vertically extending parallel bars 22. These parallel bars are provided at their lower terminals with the angular extensions 23 which are arranged to be enblocks'5 are provided with gaged by the locking member 18 and thereby hold the clamping member in place. Formed at the terminals of the bar 21 are the rearward extensions 24 which are arranged to lie on the 10 hereinbefore referred to and cooperate with the vertically extending bars 22 in holding the two members 10 from the rear clamping element in spaced relation.

In the modified form of the invention the vertical apertures 25 through which the clamping members 26 are arranged to extend, these clamping members are provided at their upper terminals with the flange engaging portion 27 and at their lower terminals with the threaded portion 28 with which the nuts 29 are arranged to cooperate. The nuts 29 are formed of transversely extending bars having at one end an upstanding projection which is arranged to engage the side wall of the railroad tie to prevent the same from turning.

It will be apparent from the foregoing, that in use, the tie'is laid in the ordinary manner and the railsplaced on top thererails against of so thatthey rest on the block 5 hereinbefore referred to. The flange engaging members 10 are then slipped in place so that the projections 1a overlie the upper faces of the rail flanges and the clamping members '11 are then slipped in place so that the portions of the bar 21 between the extensions 24 and the .vertical bars 22 he in the space between the upper terminal of the bar 16 and the arm 12 of the clamping member 10. In this position, it will be apparent that the bars 22 will lie parallel with the clamping member and the locking member 18 may then be shoved through the aperture formed between the spacing elements 16 and 17, and in this position it will be apparent that they will overlie the angular projection 23 and thereby firmly look the clamping element'in place. It will thus be seen that a simple and effective means for firmly looking railroad rails to'thetie is provided, and any accidental displacement of the rail with relation to the tie is eliminated. It is to be understood that if so desired, the upper edges of the portions may be recessed to enable the rail to set into the chamber for receiving the block 5 for a short distance, and

in this Way an anti-rail spreading device is provided which will effectively hold the lateral movement.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention, it is to be understood that such changes in the combination and exterior of the member each end and bearing arrangement of parts as may fall within the scope of the claims may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is

1. The combination with a railroad tie, of a rail clamp arranged to be secured to each end of the tie, said rail clamp comprising a pair of U shaped members, angular extensions at the free ends of the arms of the U shaped members, said extensions being arranged to engage the flanges of the railroad rail, clamping elements cooperating with the U shaped members and holding the same in proper position and locking keys cooperating with the U shaped members and the clamping elements to lock the whole together.

2. The combination with a railroad tie having chambers formed at each end and bearing blocks arranged to be inserted in the chambers, of a rail securing means, said rail securing means comprising a pair of U shaped members, angular extensions formed at the free ends of the arms of the U shaped members, said angular extensions being arranged to engage the flanges of railroad rails when the same are in place, bars secured exteriorly of the arms of the U shaped members, said bars being spaced therefrom, clamping elements arranged to hold the U shaped members in spaced relation and locking keys arranged to pass between the U shaped members and the bars and engage the clamping element to firmly lock the whole together.

3. The combination with a railroad tie including a body provided with chambers at blocks arranged tobc inserted in the chambers, of a railroad rail securing element including a pair of U shaped members, angular extensions formed at the free ends of the arms of the U shaped members, said angular extensions being arranged to engage the flanges or railroad rails when the device is in use, clamping elements arranged to hold the U shaped members in spaced relation and secure the same on the tie and locking keys cooperating with the U shaped members and the clamping elements to hold the whole in a railroad tie and secure a rail thereto.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM LAWLESS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). C. 

